- Date posted
- 2y
HOCD or not
All my brain keeps saying is how do I know if this is OCD? I know reassurance won’t help but my brain just can’t stop questioning with my HOCD anyone have any ideas on how to make it stop
All my brain keeps saying is how do I know if this is OCD? I know reassurance won’t help but my brain just can’t stop questioning with my HOCD anyone have any ideas on how to make it stop
That is the tricky thing about OCD, your ocd will make you question is it really ocd. Use this example in your ERP if you are in therapy and have an exposure on “no this isn’t ocd it’s real” and sit with the uncertainty. It is hard, just trust process and treat this just as an intrusive thought. I had the same thoughts as well and still do at times thinking is this actually ocd or not. It’s hard but I believe in you. Wish you the best in your recovery journey ❤️
I know that this can feel so hard. I always tell people that a good rule of thumb in determining if something is OCD related is to ask yourself A). does it come with a sense of urgency- like I need to KNOW right now? B). Do I feel I need certainty right now- immediacy and C). Am I feeling anxious and uncomfortable- does it feel like OCD symptoms usually make me feel? These are red flags that something probably is OCD related. Remember OCD is all about doubt- it wants to make you doubt anything and everything that is of importance to you. The idea is not to get rid of the thoughts- I know that would be nice- but everyone has similar thoughts- they bother you, likely because you have OCD- so the key here is to allow the discomfort, recognize that there will never feel like enough certainty when you have OCD and that you can still live your life. YOu can do the hard stuff.
well therapy
Also this thinking is something called meta ocd, here is a great article about it https://nocd.page.link/jR7SM1VHW9494UCB8
I’ve had so many moments of clarity with my OCD that I love my boyfriend and I’m beyond willing to go through this to be better and be with him. in the back of mind I’ve in a way known I was at least somewhat sexually attracted to women (I’m a woman) since the start of the ocd it was always like “okay. Fine, but I don’t want to date a girl” I only just realized this after the ocd started, I never really argued with this. my ocd has always revolved around if I’m romantically interested in women and not men. I’ve done so many compulsions through this year and a half and 9 times out of 10 have come to the conclusion that I don’t want to be with a woman romantically. I always end up feeling like I know I love my boyfriend. But the doubts don’t stop about whether I want to spend my life with a woman instead, my heart literally breaks to think of not being with my bf and imagining him with someone else. I don’t want to be with a woman I know deep down somewhere underneath the anxiety that that’s not what I want. It doesn’t feel natural for me, unfulfilling. I want to tell my boyfriend about the possible sexual attraction to women (ik it’s still ocd related) but I’m scared that once I tell him, I’ll realize that I actually do want to be with women and not with him. Ugh I’ve spent hours today ruminating about this after being solid in my commitment with him for a little while, I’m stuck in this loop and idk how to get out right now
I’m 25 and never ever thought this before my soocd relapse. I have a bf of 5 years. Never been a high libido kinda girl. Don’t get me wrong I do get turned on by my bf but not like every day you know? - That had always been in the back of my head, is this normal and ok? But my ocd has latched onto the most scariest what if EVER. My brain is now saying How do you know you won’t prefer to sleep and kiss girls if you haven’t tried it: and it’s that unknown that is scaring the shit out of me. I DONT AND NEVER HAVE wanted to sleep / kiss a girl. But now my intrusive thoughts is all I think about!!! I don’t want I don’t want I don’t want??? So why does my brain think BUT WHAT IF??? I know ocd thrives off uncertainty which is why I think this is happening? But I don’t wanna find out or work it out because all I want is to be with my bf and marry him!! Is this just the epitome of OCD?
When I was a child, before I knew this was OCD, I struggled with constant "magical thinking" compulsions (don't step on the crack or mom's back will actually break, etc). When I later learned this was OCD, it almost immediately solved it. Any time I got a magical thought, I would say to myself "that's just an OCD thought. ignore it." and it just stopped coming! Like seriously it fixed the magical thinking stuff forever. But of course the OCD has resurfaced in other ways. So naturally, I've tried to use the same strategy since I had so much success with it previously. But I wonder sometimes if telling myself "that's just OCD" is almost functioning as a reassurance compulsion? I hate how meta this gets. For example, I have ROCD that comes and goes. So sometimes I'll get a thought like "what if i'm still in love with my ex?" and then I'll tell myself "that's obviously just an ROCD thought" and will feel relief, almost like reassurance. But it comes back. So is telling myself that it's OCD a reassurance compulsion ?? It's just so weird because it worked so perfectly as a kid with the magical thinking thing.
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond